I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

With his subordinates looking on expectantly, it would be difficult for him to back down.

"This...this is part of a larger plan, no need to ask any more questions."

Sieg maintained a calm demeanor on the surface, but inside he was panicking again.

"Calm down and think positively."

"It was Shanks who led Luffy astray, not me, so why am I panicking...?"

"I'm just a nobody. Luffy might have already forgotten about me."

"That's right, that must be it!"

................

Mount Colbo is a remote mountain range in the lawless zone of the Goa Kingdom, far from the Uncertainty Terminal and civilian villages, and rarely visited by people.

Garp carried Luffy in one hand as they walked along the mountain path.

"Let me go! I want to be the Pirate King!" Luffy slapped Garp's thigh and struggled fiercely.

"Stop spouting nonsense about wanting to become the Pirate King! Listen to me!"

Garp's voice was filled with anger.

"You and Ace will both become the strongest Marines in the future..."

The grandfather and grandson argued all the way until they finally arrived at a wooden house.

"Where is this?" Luffy asked curiously, while struggling and slapping Garp's thigh repeatedly.

"This is the house of the bandit Dadan and his family. You will be living here from now on."

Karp knocked hard on the door of the cabin.

"Bandits?"

Luffy was about to slap Garp's thigh again, but his hand stopped in mid-air.

He remembered a bandit he knew and instinctively stopped struggling.

Chapter 24 Interesting Mountain Bandits

"Mr....Garp?"

The female bandit Dadan, who was as strong as a man, opened the door of the wooden house and saw Garp outside. She couldn't help but take two steps back and almost froze.

"You all look quite energetic."

Garp casually began exchanging pleasantries.

This remark, however, spurred Dadan and the others, who had just stepped outside, to launch into a torrent of complaints, their spittle flying as they spoke:

"Are you kidding me? Spare us!"

"Ace is already 10 years old, we simply can't control him anymore..."

"I see..."

Karp nodded slightly, then ignored Dadan and the others' complaints:

"Then Luffy will be in your hands from now on."

"Another one? What's wrong with this kid?"

"Mr. Garp, we're mountain bandits, not a nursery!"

While Garp and Dadan were chatting idly, Luffy, standing nearby, was watching Dadan and the other bandits with shining eyes.

"Uncle, are you bandits?" Luffy interjected.

"Hey, I'm a girl, you brat!" Dadan said with a dark expression.

"They really are mountain bandits, they're amazing."

Dadan looked at Luffy, whose eyes were shining, and began to wonder:

"Mr. Garp, what's wrong with this kid?"

"When he heard we were mountain bandits, he wasn't afraid at all; in fact, he seemed quite pleased?"

Upon hearing Dadan's words, Kapu's face immediately lit up with a relieved smile, and he laughed heartily:

"Because he is my grandson."

"Like Ace, both of them aspire to become the strongest Marines, so how can they be afraid of bandits?"

"what?!"

Dadan and the others were completely petrified, their minds seemingly turned into a jumbled mess.

Before they could even react, Luffy beside them shouted in dissatisfaction again:

"I don't want to be a Marine, I want to be the Pirate King!"

"This..." Dadan and the others were even more confused.

Marine hero Garp is preparing to hand over his grandson to a group of mountain bandits, but the child is determined to become the Pirate King.

Wait a minute... It's one thing to want to be the Pirate King, but why are you so happy to see these mountain bandits?

"This guy might be like Ace, and could very well be another troublesome one."

Dadan muttered to herself.

"In short, Luffy is in your hands now. Once he's a bit older, I'll have him train with Ace to become the strongest Marine," Garp concluded.

"No!" Luffy immediately exclaimed.

"I want to become the Pirate King... even if I'm just a mountain bandit king, I don't want to be a Marine!"

"Mountain Bandit King? Pfft, hahahahaha..." Garp was stunned at first, then almost burst into tears of laughter.

"What kind of king would a bandit have?"

For a moment, he forgot all about Luffy refusing to join the Navy.

However, Dadan and the others beside her did not laugh; instead, their expressions gradually became serious.

"Hey kid, you can say things like that in front of us, but if you want to survive in this area, you absolutely can't mention anything like becoming the bandit king."

"Otherwise, the consequences could be very serious."

Behind Dadan, a bandit said with lingering fear.

"why?"

Luffy and Garp asked in unison, while casually picking their noses.

"...Mr. Garp, you might not believe it..."

The bandits behind Dadan lowered their voices and glanced around warily to make sure no one else was around.

"There is indeed a bandit in this area who claims to be the Bandit King of the East Sea!"

"This man who calls himself king is already the largest bandit group in the area..."

"The key is that if you mention anything disrespectful to the Mountain Bandit King in this area, like what this kid just said, then it will be terrible."

The bandits were still somewhat shaken when they spoke of this:

"I've heard it several times: if anyone dares to disrespect the Mountain Bandit King, within five minutes, a strange bald man will jump out of the bushes with dozens of bandits, saying he'll give you a buff, and then chase you over several hills before stopping..."

"Hahaha... There are such interesting bandits..."

Garp was laughing so hard he cried.

“Mr. Karp, this is no joke.”

Dadan also explained from the side:

"This so-called East Blue Mountain Bandit King has been very active lately. In the lawless zone of the Goa Kingdom's quarantine area, no mountain bandit or sea pirate has a greater power than him."

"is it?"

Instead of being scared, Luffy broke into a big smile, his mouth stretching almost to his ears.

"There are indeed some formidable individuals among the mountain bandits. I happen to know a very skilled one..."

"Uncle Dadan, have you ever heard of a bandit named Sig?"

Just as Luffy finished speaking, a puddle of liquid suddenly flew from the side and hit him directly in the cheek.

When I reached out to wipe my face, instead of cleaning it, my hand ended up sticky and sticky.

"Saliva? That's disgusting. Who spat that out?"

Luffy ran back a few steps and looked around. He saw a child, slightly older than Luffy, sitting on a boulder with his legs crossed in the shade of a large tree.

This commotion immediately attracted the attention of Garp and the others.

"Is it Ace who's back?" The bandits were taken aback.

"Ace, Grandpa's here to see you." Garp also had a kind smile on his face.

However, Ace remained expressionless as he sat on the boulder, his face grim. Even when facing Garp, his expression did not soften in the slightest; he remained silent, arms crossed.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that what he was standing on was not a boulder, but the carcass of a frighteningly large wild boar.

The wild boar carcass had multiple blunt force wounds, and the water pipe Ace was holding also had several dark red bloodstains.

Clearly, this was the prey that ten-year-old Ace brought back.

"Hey, you bastard, apologize now."

Under the big tree, Luffy and Ace were arguing one-sidedly.

Luffy was making a fuss, but Ace remained expressionless, with a slight downward curve to his lips, showing no reaction whatsoever. He simply sat on the boar carcass, continuing to look down at the people with a blank expression.

However, Dadan, standing in front of the cabin, was not drawn to the argument between Ace and Dadan.

She stood there, somewhat dazed.

Just now, she seemed to hear a name from Luffy that she cared a lot about.

"Kid, you just mentioned Sig, right? How do you know that name?"